You can lead a Swede away from the prog, but a Swede will always return. Or, if you're this Swedish act, you take your orchestral prog metal sound and dress it up with an increased emphasis on black metal and doom. An Abstract Illusion mixes together more ideas and sounds than just about anyone on the planet. From wigged out guitar shredding and ethereal vocals to full-on screamo black metal (and a whole lot else), this album does its best to answer the question: Where is metal today?

An Abstract Illusion The Sleeping City (Willowtip)

The answer being just about everywhere. I have received acoustic albums that call themselves metal (and I'm still not sure what to do with those). Plenty of people play a wide variety of old-school sounds. from Sabbath to Maiden, Metallica and more. And then there are bands like An Abstract Illusion that create entire sonic universes using pretty much the full palette. Want to hear Pink Floyd playing Necrosanct? That's not what this is. Rather, these are songs that incorporate the most interesting parts of both into lengthy compositions that blast off into their own universes.

I have maintained for some time that the most diverse and creative sounds in music today (writ large) come from metal. Albums like this, swinging from one extreme sound to the next, are proof of concept. Plenty of bands attempt this sort of genrecide, but very few succeed. These boys are able to stitch their disparate influences into truly compelling pieces.

Not for the faint of heart, though. Those who crave the brave and new will extinguish themselves on this flame. Those who prefer to be soothed might simply explode. But if you ever wanted to hear the black metal version of an EDM drop . . . I'm just sayin'. I'm entranced by the myriad pathways this album traverses. Spectacular and thrilling.

Jon Worley